Teaching Climate Change in High School
Incorporating Climate Engineering into Secondary Education: A New Direction for Indiana’s Science Classrooms
Associate Professor Ben Kravitz and Assistant Research Scientist Paul Goddard were featured on National Public Radio (NPR) about their partnership with faculty at Bloomington High School South to teach students about the ramifications of global warming. Fostering climate optimism is a big part of this lesson. Ben noted that “the neat thing about seeing all of these ideas come out of the classroom is it’s not I can’t do it. It’s we can do it. Humans, when they get together, can do amazing things. And that’s what gives me hope.”
Ben and Paul appeared on the national PBS News Weekend — a very nice piece about their outreach efforts with MCCSC biology teacher Kirstin Milks on geoengineering.
Educating for Environmental Change (EfEC)
Since 2017, Educating for Environmental Change (EfEC) has provided professional development programs to help K-12 science educators effectively teach the science and policy of climate change.
Utilizing hands-on activities co-designed by IU environmental scientists, EfEC helps elucidate and deepen educator understanding of key concepts related to climate change including its causes, impacts, and steps we can take to mitigate its severity. EfEC is a collaboration between Indiana University faculty, K-12 educators, and the WonderLab™ Museum of Science, Health, and Technology.
In 2020, EfEC received Indiana’s top environmental award, the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence, for “extraordinary initiatives in protecting the environment.”
EAS E490/G690 Environmental and Energy Diplomacy
Professor Michael Hamburger continues to offer IU’s Diplomacy Lab program as an opportunity for students to work collaboratively with faculty in key areas of foreign policy interest identified by the U.S. Department of State in the form of collaborative research projects between IU classes and State Department embassies and offices. This year, Hamburger offered his “Environmental and Energy Diplomacy” class to an academically diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students from our department and several other IU departments and schools. The collaborative project with the State Department offers a rewarding capstone experience for upper-level undergraduates and graduate classes. This year’s project focused on natural hazards facing U.S. citizens working or traveling in Western Canada. As an outgrowth of that class, Hamburger traveled to Washington, DC to the U.S. State Department with a group of IU students as part of the Diplomacy Lab project. The IU delegation included ten students, mostly IU undergrads, who participated in three Diplomacy Lab courses. Three of the students, including two of our undergrad majors (Carter Dills and Mia Keller) and one O’Neill graduate student (Tavia Hedrick) were from our “Environmental & Energy Diplomacy” class.
Science Fest
Fun scientific outreach was offered during Science Fests twice in 2024, first in April and in October. In April, Ph.D. student Elizabeth Sherrill (now a post-doc) was a key organizer in the first Science fest, along with co-organizer Ph.D. student Sayan Das and advising faculty Senior Lecturer Cody Kirkpatrick. The organizers acknowledged the support of Terry Stigall who generously lends her time and her van with seemingly endless space for transporting stuff every year. Nora Ferstead ensured the availability of supplies and sustenance. Ruth Droppo provided swag to give out to kids. Maria Mastalerz and LaBraun Hampton supplied liquid nitrogen as the most essential component of our trash can volcano. John Hettle expertly corralled all supplies throughout the building. On October 5th, M.S. student Alec Siurek served as the main coordinator and was assisted by his faculty advisor Senior Lecturer Cody Kirkpatrick and numerous student volunteers.
Earth on the Rocks Podcast
Assistant Professor Shelby Rader started a podcast, Earth on the Rocks, featuring weekly episodes with a new guest from the earth and atmospheric sciences, highlighting some of the important work they are doing while also getting to know the person behind the science. You can find Earth on the Rocks on all major podcasting platforms (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, etc.) or directly on the podcast website: https://geologyontherocks.transistor.fm/.
Guests for this season include Andrea Stevens Goddard, Michael Hamburger, Julia Kelson, Ed Herrmann, Travis O’Brien, Jackson Njau, Cody Kirkpatrick, and Brian Yanites with a new slate of guests coming in the spring.
Shelby received help from many individuals, including two students with connections to our department - Connor Leimgruber, a student in the IU Media School, provided the artwork and logos and Cari Metz, an EAS minor, has served as producer for the show. Funding for the podcast was provided by the National Science Foundation grant EAR-2422824.
The College of Arts